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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26073703">What's Your Poison?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacquelee/pseuds/jacquelee'>jacquelee</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Writer's Month 2020 [23]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Actors, Ava is a Hollywood actress, Gen, Sara a bartender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:01:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,690</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26073703</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacquelee/pseuds/jacquelee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sara loves being a bartender, but her skills are put to the test when Hollywood actress Ava Sharpe, her idol, comes into the bar clearly not wanting anyone to recognize her.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sara Lance &amp; Ava Sharpe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Writer's Month 2020 [23]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861585</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Writer's Month 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>What's Your Poison?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for <a href="https://writersmonth.tumblr.com">Writer's Month 2020</a> for the Day 23 prompt Poison.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was still early enough in the evening so Verdant was relatively empty. Only a few people, most of them regulars, were sitting at the bar or at the small tables throughout the club. Charlie and her band hadn't even set up yet and most people came for the live music. Not that Sara understood that much, to her it just sounded like noise, but ever since Charlie and The Smell had become the headliners, Verdant had been packed every night they played and was now one of the hottest locations in Star City. </p><p>Of course, that also might have something to do with the fact that Charlie did not make a secret out of being a shapeshifter and even used her powers while on stage, transforming into various famous people and sometimes people in the audience, which was always a huge entertainment for the guests. </p><p>They had faced backlash for being one of the few clubs that praised itself for being open to everyone, all identities, all genders, all sexualities, and all meta humans and magical creatures. Which still wasn't all that accepted, even if the world had made huge strides in the last few years. </p><p>For Charlie, who had been imprisoned for years with other magical creatures because humans were closed-minded and couldn't see past the fact that she was a shapeshifter, the job at Verdant and Thea even making her a partner in her business – along with Sara herself – was a huge chance, one she had once when drunk told Sara she had never expected and was very grateful for, not that she would admit to being that sappy when she was sober. </p><p>Sara had met Charlie through Laurel, who was the ADA of Star City and tried her best to stop the persecution of magical creatures and any other marginalized groups. It was an uphill battle, but she tried and Sara tried to help in her own way. She had dropped out of college after a fallout with Laurel and Oliver, who had been dating Laurel at the time but also had been incessantly flirting with Sara, who had been young and naïve and had had a giant crush on her sister's boyfriend. </p><p>It had just been one time, but Laurel had found out and they had fought terribly, not talking to each other for a long time afterwards. Eventually, they had found their way back to each other, but that time had been hard for Sara, so hard that she couldn't continue her premed studies and instead worked odd jobs for years. </p><p>When Thea, who had kept in touch with both sisters, not being on anyone's side because she considered all three of them her best friends, had become a very young entrepreneur and opened Verdant at a site in the Glades that her father had deemed not worth it but that she had seen the potential of, she had asked Sara to work for her as a bartender. </p><p>Sara had said yes, mostly because she had nothing better to do and she did have some experience bartending. And then something that had begun just as any other of the odd jobs she had had over the years had become something she truly loved. </p><p>She knew her family still expected her to finish college, to make something of herself, but as she had told Laurel tearfully when they had finally made up, being a bartender was what she loved, what she was good at and only the fear of not being good enough and disappointing her family kept her from being truly happy with who and where she was right now. </p><p>Laurel had assured her that she was not disappointing anyone at all, that her entire family would be the happiest to know that she was happy, that she had found something she loved. And she had reminded Sara that being a partner in a business as successful as Verdant was definitely not to sneeze at and anyone would count that as her having made something of herself. </p><p>She told her that she was proud of her and Sara had felt better than she had for years in that moment. She had missed her sister, but now they were finally back together and they were unstoppable. </p><p>That was when Charlie came into her life, who had been Laurel's client in the non-profit organization she worked for in her free time. She had been freed of all charges against her, but as both an ex-inmate and a magical being, it was hard for her to find any work. Both Sara and Thea had been skeptical about hiring her and her band to play at Verdant at first, not because of her being a magical creature but because of her insisting to only play punk and neither of them was a big fan of that. But in the end, it had turned out for the best, even if Sara still hadn't quite gotten used to both the rythm and the sheer volume of the music, feeling the beat in her body even hours after they had stopped playing. </p><p>Still, it was a small price to pay for what they had accomplished here. Verdant was a safe haven for everyone persecuted and shunned by society, everyone who was different. As such, they got a fair amount of magical creatures and meta humans as regulars who were grateful to have a place to go where they weren't looked at like others, or worse, criminals just by virtue of what they were.</p><p>But they also attracted sensationalists, people who had heard about them in the media and who wanted to get a glimpse of their clientele, treating Verdant like it was some sort of zoo. Whenever the staff became aware of guests like that, they still treated them politely but when it got too bad they were red listed and not allowed to come back. Thea and Sara's policy was that whatever disrupted the peace, whether that was violence or just words, was not tolerated.</p><p>When Sara saw the woman in the giant hat with the big aviator sunglasses come in and sit down at the bar, she hoped she was someone who didn't want to be recognized because they were a magical creature who was generally able to hide that fact – there were a fair number of those and coming to Verdant for them was quite a risk so many of them hid their identities – and not one of those sensationalists, someone who just came here for the thrill of seeing magical creatures, but who didn't want to be recognizable because they were planning on starting some trouble.</p><p>Getting closer, she realized that neither of these seemed to be true, as she recognized the woman immediately as Hollywood actress Ava Sharpe. Sure, the disguise worked well on the surface but Sara had been a bartender for years and being able to look beneath the surface was one of the main requirements for that job. </p><p>In the few moments between realizing who she was about to serve drinks to and actually getting to where she was sitting, Sara had a silent internal freak out that she tried her best to shut down quickly. Ava Sharpe had been one of her favorite actresses ever since she had appeared in her first movie, some random soft porno with the weirdest sex scenes she only watched with some friends because of a dare and which had fascinated her. </p><p>Not because of those sex scenes, of course, they were the most laughable gymnastics she had ever seen, but because even through the incredibly ridiculous plot and far too sloppy gratuitous shots, Ava's sheer talent had shown through and it had fascinated Sara, so much so that she had followed her career pretty closely from then on.</p><p>When she had won the Oscar last year, she had been watching the ceremony with her friends and had been cheering the entire evening. And now, she was about to serve drinks to a woman that had been her idol for years, a woman who clearly did not want to be hassled by fans since she had done her best to conceal her identity. </p><p>Now standing nearly in front of Ava, Sara took a deep breath. She could do this. She just needed to be smooth. Exactly. Smooth, just like always. Just doing her job. </p><p>"So, what's your poison?"</p><p>Great, super, very smooth indeed. Now Ava would think she was an idiot for that ridiculous line. Sara berated herself mercilessly, but when Ava looked up and flashed her that million dollar smile, she thought maybe it hadn't been that bad at all – and she also tried her best not to faint on the spot having that smile directed at her.</p><p>"Scotch please. Neat."</p><p>"Coming right up."</p><p>Trying to stop herself from hyperventilating, Sara got the right bottle and poured the scotch into a glass, putting it in front of Ava with a smile, getting another smile in return. Sara was still on cloud number seven from just that smile, so of course Charlie chose that exact moment to very loudly start her sound check, causing Ava to nearly choke on her scotch, having clearly not expected that. She looked at Sara, something like shock on her face, though it was hard to tell with the glasses.</p><p>"What the hell was that?"</p><p>Sara couldn't help herself, she laughed a little but quickly turned her face serious again. </p><p>"Music. There will be a live performance today."</p><p>"That is music?"</p><p>Sara had to stifle another laugh.</p><p>"As far as I know, yes. People seem to be quite fond of it."</p><p>"Really?"</p><p>"Oh yes. We are always packed every time The Smell performs."</p><p>"The Smell? That's… okay. I'm sure they're great."</p><p>She sounded so adorably confused that Sara had to turn around and pretend to look for something on the shelves because she couldn't control her facial expressions, very much a no go for a bartender. </p><p>She truly hoped Ava Sharpe would not become a regular, because that would be far too big a challenge for her self control and her professionalism.</p>
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